The present invention refers to a household lighter, more specifically a lighter with a piezoelectric ignition mechanism, of the type equipped with a fuel tank with a corresponding valve whose exit is connected to a burner via an elastic tube, which is situated inside one end of a decorative tube that also serves as a combustion chamber and has a push-button that allows both the opening of the valve and the operation of the piezoelectric mechanism to ignite the gas.
The objective of the invention is to obtain a household lighter equipped with a mechanism simple in conception and which guarantees safety, obstructing the manoeuvres necessary to ignite the lighter if used by young children, more specifically children younger than five years of age.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,775 sets out safety mechanisms whose operation depends on jamming the push-button; this mechanism is incorporated into the push-button itself or is attached in the form of a second push-button. The different solutions claimed in this document have as an objective the obstruction of the movement of the push-button, with the result that it cannot act either on the piezoelectric or on the valve""s opening mechanism.
The abovementioned embodiments holder the safety element on jamming the push-button. The various mechanisms claimed offer solutions, which are complex to a greater or lesser degree as far as the execution is concerned but when used as a jamming mechanism introduce a certain degree of uncertainty as far as the reliability of the system is concerned, whether this be due to the deterioration or even breakage of its components.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,763 sets out safety mechanisms whose operation depends on obstructing the opening of the valve unless a specific sequence of movements is carried out on the push-button. The various solutions claimed in this document have as an objective the obstruction of the action carried out on the valve""s opening mechanism.
The abovementioned embodiment holders the operation on the absence of the application of an active force on the valve""s opening mechanism, a situation obtained by means of an element incorporated into the push-button itself. Despite the fact that the solution claimed here is economical and simple to execute, one inconvenient aspect is the need to execute a two-fold operating manoeuvre on the double functional nature of the push-button when the latter moves freely on two perpendicular axes.
This invention""s premise is to overcome the inconvenient aspects mentioned by means of mechanisms that block or obstruct its use by children.
The invention provides a lighter of the type described at the beginning, which is characterised in that it has an additional mechanism that acts as a safety element. The system is reliable, incapable of constant use without intervention from the user.
The invention holders its operation on a mechanism capable of creating a reaction force on the valve""s opening mechanism.
The invention supposes that said force is created or eliminated according to the arming or disabling of the point of support on the lever defined by the tilting that is part of the maneuver necessary to open the valve.
One advantage of the invention is that this mechanism can be adapted to the majority of lighters currently available on the market; its manufacture would not involve any great modifications to lighters that lack a safety system and the investment that would be required is not very high.
In an initial preferred embodiment of the invention said mechanism is formed by an array of new elements that are actually part of the lighter. These elements are set up in their basic form through a secondary element that acts as a track mechanism perpendicularly to the main push-button and operated by a second push-button, this mechanism forming part of the actual push-button; the push-button can be moved by a finger pressing it, going from a dormant, resting position to a position where it acts as a point of support for the lever set up by the tilting; the push-button is equipped with a spring that forces the push-button to stand in a dormant support position once the operating force on the push-button has disappeared. The push-button can be made of metal or plastic independent of the structural characteristics of the design. This push-button is situated on the upper face of the holder of the lighter that houses all the elements of the latter.
In a second preferred embodiment of the invention said mechanism is formed by the same elements described in the preceding paragraph with the secondary push-button situated in either of the two side faces of the holder of the lighter.
In a third preferred embodiment of the invention said mechanism is formed by the same elements described in the first form outlined above, the difference being that the track mechanism is operated by a push-button that moves on a perpendicular axis to the former and acts on the mechanism by means of a cam with a contact surface of defined dimensions. This secondary push-button is located on the upper face of the holder of the lighter housing all the elements.
In a fourth preferred embodiment of the invention said mechanism is formed by the same elements described in the third form outlined above with the secondary push-button being situated on either of the two side faces of the holder of the lighter.